scholarly journals The Legacy Effects of Colonial and Apartheid Imprints on Urban Greening in South Africa: Spaces, Species, and Suitability

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlie M. Shackleton ◽  
N. Gwedla
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Urban Form ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Space Distribution ◽  
Legacy Effects ◽  
Urban Greening ◽  
Urban Nature ◽  
Urban Green

Colonialism is a significant legacy across most aspects of urban form, the nature and distribution of public green spaces, and tree species composition in many cities of the Global South. However, the legacy effects of colonialism on urban green infrastructure and the uses thereof have only recently come under scrutiny. Here we collate information from South Africa on urban greening and interpret it through a colonial and apartheid legacy lens in relation to the distribution and types of urban nature found and their resonance with contemporary needs as an African country. The analysis indicates marked inequalities in public green space distribution and quality between neighborhoods designated for different race groups during the colonial and apartheid periods, which continues to be reproduced by the post-colonial (and post-apartheid) state. Additionally, in the older, former colonial neighborhoods non-native tree species dominate in parks and streets, with most of the species having been introduced during the colonial period. Such colonial introductions have left a burdensome legacy of invasive species that costs billions of Rands annually to keep in check. Lastly, the forms of nature and activities provided in public urban green spaces remains reminiscent of the colonial norm, with little recognition of African worldviews, identity and needs. We conclude in emphasizing the necessity for urban authorities and planners to address these anachronistic legacies through adopting a more inclusive and co-design approach with respect to the extent, location and types of urban nature provided, as well as the types of cultural symbols and activities permitted and promoted.

scholarly journals Assessing Nature-Based Recreation to Support Urban Green Infrastructure Planning in Trento (Italy)

Land ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Cortinovis ◽  
Grazia Zulian ◽  
Davide Geneletti
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Urban Parks ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Innovative Methods ◽  
Urban Green Infrastructure ◽  
The City

Nature-based recreation is among the most relevant ecosystem services supplied by urban green infrastructure, affecting citizens’ physical and mental wellbeing. Providing adequate green spaces for nature-based recreation is among the main goals of urban planning, but commonly-used indicators offer a partial view on the issue. Innovative methods and approaches, such as the ESTIMAP-recreation model, appear as promising ways to increase the quality of information available for decision-makers by considering both the range of green spaces that provide the service and the locally-specific demand. The article presents an application of the ESTIMAP-recreation model to the city of Trento (Italy), aimed at testing its adaptation to the local context and the potential improvements brought to urban planning. The comparison of the results with traditional indicators based on the availability and accessibility to urban parks shows significant differences in terms of priority of intervention across the city, with implications on planning decisions. The application demonstrates that innovative methods can enhance the understanding of nature-based recreation in cities beyond the focus on urban parks, revealing a wide portfolio of actions that planners can put in place to promote nature-based recreation through a multifunctional green infrastructure.

scholarly journals Assessing Impacts of Urban Form on Landscape Structure of Urban Green Spaces in China Using Landsat Images Based on Google Earth Engine

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1569 ◽  
Author(s):  
Conghong Huang ◽  
Jun Yang ◽  
Peng Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Landscape Structure ◽  
Urban Form ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Road Density ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Google Earth Engine ◽  
Land Cover Maps

The structure of urban green spaces (UGS) plays an important role in determining the ecosystem services that they support. Knowledge of factors shaping landscape structure of UGS is imperative for planning and management of UGS. In this study, we assessed the influence of urban form on the structure of UGS in 262 cities in China based on remote sensing data. We produced land cover maps for 262 cities in 2015 using 6673 scenes of Landsat ETM+/OLI images based on the Google Earth Engine platform. We analyzed the impact of urban form on landscape structure of UGS in these cities using boosted regression tree analysis with the landscape and urban form metrics derived from the land cover maps as response and prediction variables, respectively. The results showed that the three urban form metrics—perimeter area ratio, road density, and compound terrain complexity index—were all significantly correlated with selected landscape metrics of UGS. Cities with high road density had less UGS area and the UGS in those cities was more fragmented. Cities with complex built-up boundaries tended to have more fragmented UGS. Cities with high terrain complexity had more UGS but the UGS were more fragmented. Our results for the first time revealed the importance of urban form on shaping landscape structure of UGS in 262 cities at a national scale.

scholarly journals Assessment of tree species distribution and diversity in the major urban green spaces of Nairobi city, Kenya

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 12-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Onguso Nyambane David ◽  
Bosco Njoroge John ◽  
Onyango Watako Arnold
Keyword(s):  
Species Distribution ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces

scholarly journals Green Apartheid: Urban green infrastructure remains unequally distributed across income and race geographies in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zander S Venter ◽  
Charlie M. Shackleton ◽  
Francini Van Staden ◽  
Odirilwe Selomane ◽  
Vanessa A Masterson
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
National Scale ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Human Wellbeing ◽  
Urban South ◽  
Urban Green Infrastructure

<p>Urban green infrastructure provides ecosystem services that are essential to human wellbeing. A dearth of national-scale assessments in the Global South has precluded the ability to explore how political regimes, such as the forced racial segregation in South Africa during and after Apartheid, have influenced the extent of and access to green infrastructure over time. We investigate whether there are disparities in green infrastructure distributions across race and income geographies in urban South Africa. Using open-source satellite imagery and geographic information, along with national census statistics, we find that public and private green infrastructure is more abundant, accessible, greener and more treed in high-income relative to low-income areas, and in areas where previously advantaged racial groups (i.e. White citizens) reside.</p>

scholarly journals Urban Green Areas and Woody Plant Composition: Dwelling Space Quality Factor in the Klokočina Housing Estate

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-90
Author(s):  
Mária Bihuňová ◽  
Ján Supuka ◽  
Attila Tóth ◽  
Karol Šinka ◽  
Gabriel Kuczman
Keyword(s):  
Tree Species ◽  
Woody Plant ◽  
Biologically Active ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Housing Estate ◽  
Area Index ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Green Area ◽  
Green Areas

Abstract The environment of a city is influenced by global and local climate changes, pollution load from transport, industry and local heat sources. Green spaces as part of the urban green infrastructure fulfil multiple ecosystem services and improve the environmental and residential quality of a city. The level of positive effects of green spaces depends on their area, distribution within the city and the proportion of trees. The aim of the paper was to evaluate land cover structure in a selected segment of the housing estate Klokočina in Nitra, Slovakia. The evaluation focused on the share of biologically active and inactive surfaces, as well as the parameters of woody plant structure in green spaces. Green areas account for 58.70%, while built-up areas, parking lots and roads cover in total 41.30%. Biologically inactive anthropogenic horizontal and of building envelope areas represent 67.30%. Biologically active green areas represent 32.70%. The share of areas with tree crown overlap on horizontal areas is 20.82%, other areas are paved surfaces or grassland. We calculated the indices of the quality of green spaces from the individual categories of areas: proportional green area index (PGAI), effective green area index (EGAI) and tree shade index (TSI). The tree species composition consists of 36 deciduous and 11 coniferous tree species, and 20 shrub species. We evaluated the biometric traits of trees as the tree height, crown width, stem girth and tree vitality class (TVC). The correlations between tree traits were statistically tested with a significant result. In the group of biologically active areas of greenery, we propose to increase the proportion of trees, to establish more natural lawns and xerophyte flower beds. In the category of inactive areas, we propose the reconstruction of parking lots to grass paved surfaces.

scholarly journals Experiential Contacts with Green Infrastructure’s Diversity and Well-Being of Urban Community

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 65-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mazlina Mansor ◽  
Ismail Said ◽  
Ismail Mohamad
Keyword(s):  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Small Town ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Publishing House ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Open Spaces ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Infrastructure Network

The study explores the significance of residents’ experience with an array of green infrastructure in Taiping, a small town in central Peninsular Malaysia. It argues that the existence of a composite of greenery and open spaces in a town that has diversity contributes to sense of well-being of residents. Green infrastructure network is a composite of various types of greenery and open spaces linked by streets, waterways and drainages encircling and connecting urban areas, at all spatial scales. In Taiping, the green infrastructure network consists of a town park, street planting, open spaces of public buildings, pocket spaces between shop-houses, school playfields, neighbourhood open space, home gardens, and river corridors. Questionnaires (n=335) and semi-structured interviews (n=33) explored the diversity of the green infrastructure in the town and the causal relationship to well-being—physical, cognitive and social. The data suggested that green infrastructure afford residents diversity of experience. Diverse experiences of green infrastructure network, physically and visually attract residents to participate in active activities, to socialize and to perform other transactional activities outside their homes. Therefore, the effects from the participation trigger many positive moods such as serenity, relaxation, comfort and satisfaction. Moreover, in physical and social terms, experiencing urban green spaces such as parks and gardens afford town residents active living, and community participation and harmony. There were modest relationships between the dimensions of diversity with the well-being dimensions, suggesting that residents felt diversity affect their sense of well-being. Hence, the results implicate that urban green spaces are essential amenity for towns and cities that afford an individual and a community physical, cognitive and social well-being. Keywords:     Green infrastructure, Small town, Diversity, Well-being © 2017 The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, UniversitiTeknologi MARA, Malaysia.

A MSPA-Based Approach of Urban Green Space System Planning

2012 ◽  
Vol 518-523 ◽  
pp. 5972-5979
Author(s):  
Qing Chang ◽  
Yao Qiu ◽  
Xue Li ◽  
Jian Sheng Wu
Keyword(s):  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Life Support ◽  
Urban Green Space ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Spatial Pattern Analysis ◽  
Space System ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Land Use Decisions

Urban green spaces are considered as the life support system in a city, if systematically planned, developed, and maintained, they may provide various ecosystem services in a sustainable way. By integrating the morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) and the green infrastructure (GI) network based on GIS, this study provided an urban green space planning method to guide urban sustainable spatial development and land use decisions in the Longgang District of Shenzhen in China. The approach has a robust performance in identifying the vital hubs and linkages in the urban green space system. It is hoped that this plan model based on MSPA, the function connectivity of urban green spaces could be farther strengthened so that some key zones in landscape pattern could be protected in the future development.

scholarly journals Mapping Functional Urban Green Types Using High Resolution Remote Sensing Data

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 2144
Author(s):  
Jeroen Degerickx ◽  
Martin Hermy ◽  
Ben Somers
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Image Analysis ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Hyperspectral Data ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Sensing Data

Urban green spaces are known to provide ample benefits to human society and hence play a vital role in safeguarding the quality of life in our cities. In order to optimize the design and management of green spaces with regard to the provisioning of these ecosystem services, there is a clear need for uniform and spatially explicit datasets on the existing urban green infrastructure. Current mapping approaches, however, largely focus on large land use units (e.g., park, garden), or broad land cover classes (e.g., tree, grass), not providing sufficient thematic detail to model urban ecosystem service supply. We therefore proposed a functional urban green typology and explored the potential of both passive (2 m-hyperspectral and 0.5 m-multispectral optical imagery) and active (airborne LiDAR) remote sensing technology for mapping the proposed types using object-based image analysis and machine learning. Airborne LiDAR data was found to be the most valuable dataset overall, while fusion with hyperspectral data was essential for mapping the most detailed classes. High spectral similarities, along with adjacency and shadow effects still caused severe confusion, resulting in class-wise accuracies <50% for some detailed functional types. Further research should focus on the use of multi-temporal image analysis to fully unlock the potential of remote sensing data for detailed urban green mapping.

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